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Random Crashes


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#1
wildcat2000

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So lately Ive been having random crashes as least once a day where the screen kinda freaks out and the address bar, Start bar and desktop icons go blank and nothing works. First time it happend I got a blue screen of death and since it was too fast to see it I disabled automatic restart.

Now even though it keeps doing this it's never had another BSOD. So I end up having to turn off the computer (which is the only thing that does function most of the time) but when I do the small box (with Log off, Turn Off, Restart) is also blank and basicly invisible except for the 3 buttons. Also when it does shutdown I get kind of a generic Windows XP box instead of the usual shutdown screen. This only happens during a crash. If I shut it down...say right now it'll be normal.

I did a scan with BlueScreenVeiwer and heres what that said:

Crash Time- Nov. 5th 2010 at 1:41am (Thats only time the blue sceen happend)
Bug Check String- PNP_DETECTED_FATAL_ERROR
Caused by Driver- ntoskrnl.exe
Caused by Address- ntoskrnl.exe+21cc5
File Descrition- NT Kernel & Systems

Ive done searches on NT Kernel & Systems but I can not find anything on it except other people seem to have similar problems and it's some vital program that helps your OS run correctly. Ive also read it could be corrupt boot.ini files(which I don't know anything about and Im not gonna try to edit them), malfuntioning keyboard or a miscellaneous problem.

I guess theres is a chance it could be the keyboard. Some keys on here don't work that well and must be pushed in real hard sometimes but I highly doubt it since this crashing barely started happening recently. Besides Im on a laptop so I can not change keyboards.

A friend helped me and he guided me through disabling some startup programs that I didnt need to see if I could pinpoint the problem by re-enabling them one at a time. I did this but it still did not help.

I ran a diagnostic on my hard drive using SeaTool (from Seagates website. My drive is seagate) and both the short and long tests passed so thats good. The drive is not that old anyway. Replaced it last summer. My computer is a Gateway laptop with windows XP SP3.

I just don't know what else to think or do. I really wish I could find a straight answer to what NT Kernel & Systems is. Like the report said it was caused by some driver. If I just knew what it was or how to update it that might fix it. Other than the random crashing the computer runs fine, just like normal. Thanks for any help
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#2
Mythio

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Hi Wildcat2000,

Have you looked at the system log to try and identify the problem?

You can find it by going to start -> run -> type "eventvwr" (without the quotation marks).
This should start the event viewer where you can find the system log.
Look for entries with a red circle with a white cross in it close to before or after your system crashed.

Post here what you find.

Hope to help,

Mythio
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#3
wildcat2000

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Hi Wildcat2000,

Have you looked at the system log to try and identify the problem?

You can find it by going to start -> run -> type "eventvwr" (without the quotation marks).
This should start the event viewer where you can find the system log.
Look for entries with a red circle with a white cross in it close to before or after your system crashed.

Post here what you find.

Hope to help,

Mythio


Closest thing is on November 8, 2010 under Applications called....Userenv. I dont know what that is. Seems theres alot of yellow "!" with that too through out the list. Like Ive said though Ive only ever had 1 BSOD. All the other times it just freaks out like I described and I have to turn it off and turn it back on.

Edited by wildcat2000, 30 November 2010 - 05:26 PM.

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#4
Mythio

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Hi Wildcat2000,

From your story I gather that even though taskbar, etc goes blank, your PC is still responsive.
You can shut it down without having to hard reset it by holding the power button for several seconds?

About the shutdown box you get, does it look like this:

Posted Image

When it happens again, can you try the following to help identify where the problem lies:

1. Press CTRL + ALT + DEL and access the Task manager
2. Go to the "processes" tab and look for the process called "explorer.exe".
3. Right click on explorer.exe and choose to end process (your blank taskbar etc should disappear)
4. In the task manager window choose File -> New Task (run), type "explorer.exe" and press enter

Your taskbar and start menu should reappear, are they still blank?
Are you doing anything specific when it happens, like browsing with Internet Explorer, opening a certain program, running a video or game, etc.?

Hope to help,

Mythio

Edited by Mythio, 01 December 2010 - 11:54 AM.

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#5
wildcat2000

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Hi Wildcat2000,

From your story I gather that even though taskbar, etc goes blank, your PC is still responsive.
You can shut it down without having to hard reset it by holding the power button for several seconds?

About the shutdown box you get, does it look like this:

Posted Image

When it happens again, can you try the following to help identify where the problem lies:

1. Press CTRL + ALT + DEL and access the Task manager
2. Go to the "processes" tab and look for the process called "explorer.exe".
3. Right click on explorer.exe and choose to end process (your blank taskbar etc should disappear)
4. In the task manager window choose File -> New Task (run), type "explorer.exe" and press enter

Your taskbar and start menu should reappear, are they still blank?
Are you doing anything specific when it happens, like browsing with Internet Explorer, opening a certain program, running a video or game, etc.?

Hope to help,

Mythio


Yes it looks like that except it doesn't have the bar like that to choose shutdown. Guess because the normal "log off-Shutdown-Restart buttons still show up and thats where I choose shutdown. That shutdown box (the one your showing me) only appears as its shutting itself down. It says the usual stuff...saving settings, windows is now shutting down. Usually though as you know the shutdown screen is the nice light-blue graphic one.

Like I said though nothing else really works when this happens. Only the "Start > Shutdown" works. If I try opening a picture, video or clicking a link it won't work. Sometimes if Im not fast enough to shut it down not even that works and I DO end up doing a Hard Reset (by holding down the power button).

Im not really doing anything specific when it happens. Im always browsing with Explorer (if thats where the problem stems from then it makes sense) but once I was just going through my own picture folders and it happend. My thumbnails went blank like the rest of the stuff. IE was running at the time I just didnt have any windows open. Just my own folders on my hard drive. If it is IE thats causing this I dont see how that would effect my own personal folders on the computer itself. Anyway I'll try that with the task manager next time it happens.
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#6
rshaffer61

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Hey guys, check the drivers to see if one of them is causing the crashes.
Download WhoCrashed from the link in my signature below
This program checks for any drivers which may have been causing your computer to crash....

Click on the file you just downloaded and run it.

Put a tick in Accept then click on Next
Put a tick in the Don't create a start menu folder then click Next
Put a tick in Create a Desktop Icon then click on Install and make sure there is a tick in Launch Whocrashed before clicking Finish
Click Analyze
It will want to download the Debugger and install it Say Yes
WhoCrashed will create report but you have to scroll down to see it
Copy and paste it into your next reply







http://www.resplendence.com/downloads
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#7
wildcat2000

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Ok Heres what WhoCrashed said....basicly what BlueScreenViewer said too:

On Fri 11/5/2010 8:40:37 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini110510-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x21CC5)
Bugcheck code: 0xCA (0x1, 0xFFFFFFFF85643378, 0xFFFFFFFF85FD02D8, 0x0)
Error: PNP_DETECTED_FATAL_ERROR
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that the Plug and Play Manager encountered a severe error, probably as a result of a problematic Plug and Play driver.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.
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#8
rshaffer61

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OK Mythio it looks like either a OS or driver issue to me.
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#9
wildcat2000

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Also it just crashed a few minutes ago and I did the Task Manager thing he told me and that still did not help.
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#10
rshaffer61

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Try this:
Go to

Start and then to Run
Type in Chkdsk /r Note the space between k and /
Click Enter ...It will probably ask if you want to do this on the next reboot...click Y
If the window doesn't shutdown on its own then reboot the system manually. On reboot the system will start the chkdsk operation
This one will take longer then chkdsk /f

Note... there are 5 stages...
It may appear to hang at a certain percent for a hour or more or even back up and go over the same area...this is normal...
DO NOT SHUT YOUR COMPUTER DOWN WHILE CHKDSK IS RUNNING OR YOU CAN HAVE SEVERE PROBLEMS
This can take several hours to complete.
When completed it will boot the system back into windows.

Let me know if this fixes the problem
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#11
wildcat2000

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Try this:
Go to

Start and then to Run
Type in Chkdsk /r Note the space between k and /
Click Enter ...It will probably ask if you want to do this on the next reboot...click Y
If the window doesn't shutdown on its own then reboot the system manually. On reboot the system will start the chkdsk operation
This one will take longer then chkdsk /f

Note... there are 5 stages...
It may appear to hang at a certain percent for a hour or more or even back up and go over the same area...this is normal...
DO NOT SHUT YOUR COMPUTER DOWN WHILE CHKDSK IS RUNNING OR YOU CAN HAVE SEVERE PROBLEMS
This can take several hours to complete.
When completed it will boot the system back into windows.

Let me know if this fixes the problem


Ok I did it but I won't know if it fixed it or not. Only time will tell. Quick question. Do I have to go back into Star > Run > Chkdsk to turn it off or something so it won't run everytime I turn on the computer or does it go back to normal on its own?
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#12
rshaffer61

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It only runs the next time you reboot.
The only time it normally runs everytime is if you have a problem with your hd or if you have what is called a dirty bit in your memory.
The important thing is if it found and repaired anything when it ran.
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#13
wildcat2000

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Ooooh it just happend again. I guess the Chkdsk thing didn't work either.

Gosh I didn't think it would crash this soon again. Usually it's just once a day.
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#14
rshaffer61

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Go Start and then to Run ("Start Search" in Vista),
Type in: sfc /scannow
Click OK (Enter in Vista).
Have Windows CD/DVD handy.
If System File Checker (sfc) finds any errors, it may ask you for the CD/DVD.
If sfc does not find any errors in Windows XP, it will simply quit, without any message.
In Vista you will receive the following message: "Windows resource protection did not find any integrity violations".

For Vista users ONLY: Navigate to C:\Windows\Logs\CBS folder. You'll see CBS.log file.
Usually, it's pretty big file, so upload it to Flyupload, and post download link.


If you don't have Windows CD....
This applies mostly to Windows XP, since Vista rarely requires use of its DVD while running "sfc"
Note This method will not necessarily work as well, as when using Windows CD, because not always ALL system files are backed up on your hard drive. Also, backed up files may be corrupted as well.

Go Start and then Run
type in regedit and click OK


Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

You will see various entries Values on the right hand side.

The one we want is called: SourcePath

It probably has an entry pointing to your CD-ROM drive, usually D and that is why it is asking for the XP CD.
All we need to do is change it to: C:
Now, double click the SourcePatch setting and a new box will pop up.
Change the drive letter from your CD drive to your root drive, usually C:
Close Registry Editor.

Now restart your computer and try sfc /scannow again!


Thanks to Broni for the instructions



Revised and Simplified:


Do you have a valid XP CD?

If so, place it in your CD ROM drive and follow the instructions below:
  • Click on Start and select Run... type sfc /scannow (note the space) (Let this run undisturbed until the window with the blue progress bar goes away)

SFC
- Which stands for System File Checker,
retrieves the correct version of the file from %Systemroot%\System32\Dllcache or the Windows installation source files, and then replaces the incorrect file.
If you want to see what was replaced, right-click My Computer and click on Manage. In the new window that appears, expand the Event Viewer (by clicking on the + symbol next to it) and then click on System.
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#15
wildcat2000

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Go Start and then to Run ("Start Search" in Vista),
Type in: sfc /scannow
Click OK (Enter in Vista).
Have Windows CD/DVD handy.
If System File Checker (sfc) finds any errors, it may ask you for the CD/DVD.
If sfc does not find any errors in Windows XP, it will simply quit, without any message.
In Vista you will receive the following message: "Windows resource protection did not find any integrity violations".

For Vista users ONLY: Navigate to C:\Windows\Logs\CBS folder. You'll see CBS.log file.
Usually, it's pretty big file, so upload it to Flyupload, and post download link.


If you don't have Windows CD....
This applies mostly to Windows XP, since Vista rarely requires use of its DVD while running "sfc"
Note This method will not necessarily work as well, as when using Windows CD, because not always ALL system files are backed up on your hard drive. Also, backed up files may be corrupted as well.

Go Start and then Run
type in regedit and click OK


Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

You will see various entries Values on the right hand side.

The one we want is called: SourcePath

It probably has an entry pointing to your CD-ROM drive, usually D and that is why it is asking for the XP CD.
All we need to do is change it to: C:
Now, double click the SourcePatch setting and a new box will pop up.
Change the drive letter from your CD drive to your root drive, usually C:
Close Registry Editor.

Now restart your computer and try sfc /scannow again!


Thanks to Broni for the instructions



Revised and Simplified:


Do you have a valid XP CD?

If so, place it in your CD ROM drive and follow the instructions below:

  • Click on Start and select Run... type sfc /scannow (note the space) (Let this run undisturbed until the window with the blue progress bar goes away)

SFC
- Which stands for System File Checker,
retrieves the correct version of the file from %Systemroot%\System32\Dllcache or the Windows installation source files, and then replaces the incorrect file.
If you want to see what was replaced, right-click My Computer and click on Manage. In the new window that appears, expand the Event Viewer (by clicking on the + symbol next to it) and then click on System.


Well I tryed the first one but it says I have the wrong disc. It asks for a Windows XP Pro. disc. The one I have came with my computer and says "Gateway Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005: Operating System Disc". Thats the only disc I have. So I guess the last one wouldn't work either.

The second option where I go into the registry and no disc needed...how dangerous is it? I mean cause it says some backed up fils might be corrupted and it might not even fix the problem. Would it damage other files the computer may need to run properly? or files I may want?
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